Location of new Beijing airport confirmed

(AFP PHOTO / Peter PARKS)

Authorities in Beijing have confirmed that the a new major airport is to be built in the south of the city, reports from China suggested March 6.

The new airport, which will be Beijing's third, will be built in the southern Daxing district, China's state-owned Xinhua news agency reported over the weekend, and will be capable of handling 80 million passengers a year once it is completed.

The first phase of construction will be completed by 2015 and will add the capacity for a further 40 million passengers a year.

Daxing is situated at the southern boundary of Beijing, although Xinhua reports that travel time between the airport and city will be shorter than 30 minutes.

A new airport has been on the cards for Beijing for some time now and was originally mooted before the 2008 Olympic Games, although the decision was made to expand the existing major airport, Beijing Capital International, rather than begin a new project.

Last year, Beijing Capital overtook London Heathrow as the world's second busiest international airport after Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, managing to leap from eighth place to second in a period of just 12 months.

It's believed that by 2015, Beijing will handle 120 million passengers every year through its airports.

Airbus said March 7 that Asia will be the world's biggest air market by 2029, with approximately 8,560 new planes set to be delivered to the region - around a third of the world's new aircraft.

It also noted that China's effort to build intra-city high speed rail networks, which has resulted in the country boasting one of the world's most advanced rail networks, would have "limited impact" on the growth of aviation in the country.